It was meant to shorten the way between Russia and Finland and make trade and travel easier. But the 830 million ruble road (approximately 12 million €) is mostly famous for one thing: to be an excellent summer time training ground for Russian cross country skiers in Karelia.

As there is almost no traffic on this expensive 28 kilometer two layer asphalt road, it is both safe and silent for roller skiers. Gleb Yarovoy at the media outlet 7X7 tells the story about why such a nice road leads to an almost dead end.

The article was published on January 25, 2018, in 7×7 in Petrozavodsk.